Today, May 6th, at 9PM, “Branded”, a film by Cameron S. Mithcell, will be premiering at The Pearl on Broad Street. The film looks inside the Temple Made campaign through the eyes of students, faculty, alumni, and the marketing team that started it all. “Branded” is an opportunity to experience and discuss the impact of the influential campaign and its affect on the Temple community. It is a cherry and white movement that has expanded Temple’s reach not only in the city of Philadelphia and surrounding areas, but also nationwide with its influential ads in print, TV, and online. There will be a Q&A discussion following the premiere. The premiere will screen twice, first at 9PM and second at 9:30PM. You can RSVP to the event for free admission.

Temple University’s NSAC team did an amazing job finishing up their competition last week placing fourth out of fourteen teams who presented in front of the NY judges! That’s a great accomplishment for all students involved in the process. This week, I sat down with graduating Advertising-Art Direction student, Angela Lanza, to talk to her about NSAC in general and what it’s like to participate in the competition for future Temple students who may be interested in trying it out.

Happy Earth Day 2013! While you’re all being especially green today, do yourself a favor and head over to Google‘s homepage to see their interactive logo for the day. Google has presented us with a beautiful landscape that goes through the changing of the seasons. As the sun moves westward and the moon goes through it’s phases, the seasons pass, showing us different days starting with spring going slowly into summer, fall, and winter.

Throughout many of my classes, the majority of the teachers have been strong in pushing the professional use of social media. Facebook and Twitter are easy for us to use because they cross with our personal social lives. We know how to use them because we are on them all the time any way. One tool that I think slips a lot of our minds is LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network. The purpose of LinkedIn is for us to broadcast our professional experience to connect with colleagues, teachers, mentors, and potential employers. If used correctly, LinkedIn can be a great tool for connecting to people in our industries as well as finding and acquiring jobs. So, how can someone use LinkedIn effectively? Here are just a few tips that I’ve found through my own research and experience using the site.

I recently came across an amazing project developed by Kelly Clawson, a fellow advertising student here at Temple and President of the Temple Ad Club. The Free Journal Project is a socially based art project founded in providing free handcrafted journals, for all to use and enjoy. The project focuses on making journal keeping accessible and enjoyable while establishing a space for personal inspiration and creativity.

As college students we tend to have thin portfolios and light wallets, so we need to look outside of the classroom. Sure, part time work can help, and internships are key to our success, but there are a few small things that we can be benefit from for cash and experience purposes.

A big congratulations to one of Temple’s very own Advertising students, Andrew Arbitell, on winning the Peanut Chews billboard design contest. Contestants were challenged to create ten word billboard slogans. His winning idea “enjoyed when the Rocky Steps were just steps” won over contest judges as the best line, showing their old school original feel and relating that to the city of Philadelphia in such an emotional connection. The billboard can be seen on I-95 near the Peanut Chews factory now through April 28th! Another prize from having his slogan chosen is a year’s supply of Peanut Chews that will be hand delivered througn company spokesman and former Eagles QB Ron Jaworski in “Goldie,” the brand’s vintage 1967 Volkswagen Microbus.

I came across To This Day while I was browsing new posts on Osocio, the non-profit and social cause advertising blog I posted about earlier this semester. This project stood out particularly strong to be because of the power behind the voice and image. The project was based on an incredibly powerful spoken word piece by Shane Koyczan titled “To This Day” that provides an intimate look into the long term and continued affects of bullying that can impact an individual and society as a whole. Animators and motion artists were invited in a previous video to lend their unique styles to small 20 second segments that were fused together to form a cohesive story for this 7+ minute video. It was an amazing collaborative effort done by Koyczan and the artists, making way for a piece that is rhythmically moving and visually stunning, painting a picture of despair and hope for a better future. I don’t want to get too into specifics because the piece truly does speak for itself.

Google released news several weeks ago on their new contribution to the technology world, Google Glass. As seen below in the video they released on their YouTube account, Google Glass is a pair of glasses that connects to your phone, enabling you to record, share, and view live data directly on your glasses. They look like they came straight out of a Sci-Fi movie and connects people to their content so quickly and effortlessly that it’s hard not to envision this becoming the future of technology.

As part of a campaign behind Procter & Gamble Co.’s Head & Shoulders with Old Spice, P&G wants to own the strikeout in MLB baseball. P&G is attempting to play on the double meaning of scent and strikeouts with their innovative MLB campaign. For every strikeout, P&G will give $1 to Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities. The company also plans to fuel social media with the hashtag #Whiff. For every month, the MLB club whose fans tweet most often using #Whiff, P&G will donate an additional $10,000 for local chapters.

Advertising is a great source for inspiration when we think about expanding our own skills and creativity. Some of the most inspirational advertisements come from social cause and non-profit campaigns. There’s a site, Osocio, that I frequent to quite often to see what’s new in this area of the industry. Osocio posts the best global campaigns of non-profit advertising and social cause marketing. The blog posts impressive work from various organizations and agencies on a wide variety of topics from activism to environmental issues to social aid and so on.

The 2013 Addy Awards are this Thursday, March 7, 2013! This is a Philly Ad Club event organized to award creatives and professionals in Philadelphia Advertising who have shown exceptional work this year. This is a great opportunity to see award winning work from industry creatives as well as network with professionals from all over the Philadelphia area. Information provided by the Philly Ad Club is listed below.

Join TAC this Monday, March 4th, to hear from Josh Goldblum, creative director of Bluecadet! Josh is the founder and creative director of Bluecadet, which specializes in multimedia experiences that excite, engage, and inspire. They build dynamic websites, installations, and mobile applications for universities, museums, nonprofits, and corporations. Their services are broken up into strategy, design, technology and continuing services such as: social media, training, email, measurement, and search. Bluecadet has been recognized for their outstanding work with numerous awards from 2008 to now.

Panera Bread has recently launched a new campaign called “Live Consciously. Eat Deliciously.” This clever campaign takes the viewer through a journey of images that describe the process of baking bread in Panera Bread bakeries. The company has created a commercial spot as well as an interactive web page that teaches the consumer more about the high-quality product as well as the company. The company positions itself as morally driven with high quality products. Panera pledges in the commercial to donate all leftover baked goods to local charities in order to give back to the community by feeding the hungry.

When looking for a job today, one of the most important things to remember is you are a brand. We are in a time where students and graduates are constantly competing against other peers who have the same educational skills and experience, so how do we stand out? When businesses and hiring managers are busy getting piles of resumes and emails day by day, it’s our job to make it easier for them to find our brand first.

As students, multitasking is a vital skill for us to master. We need to juggle class, work, clubs, and maybe even a little social life. On top of all that, as students in the School of Media and Communications, we are expected to know what’s going on in the news and in media at all times. There are so many new trends and topics that we need to catch up on that sometimes we loose track. That’s where Pocket comes in to play. Pocket is an app for your computer, iPad, tablet, or smartphone that is designed to help you save articles, videos, and really anything for later usage.

I hope as Philadelphia Advertising students you are all taking advantage of their student events! I have gone to a few throughout my undergraduate career and I have always walked away learning great ideas to apply to my studies and career pursuit. First off, I encourage you to become a Philly Ad Club member! As a Temple University advertising student you are offered a discounted rate of $10 for a year membership. That’s a steal for all the great opportunities and resources they lay out for you.